Glial progenitors articles from across Nature Portfolio

Late prenatal development of the human neocortex encompasses a critical period of gliogenesis and cortical expansion. Here, authors use human transcriptomics to capture transience and diversity of cells in middle and late prenatal development, including glial progenitor signatures.

Neonatal hypoxia leads to white matter hypomyelination due to delayed oligodendrocyte maturation. The authors identify Sirt2 as a crucial regulator of oligodendrocyte differentiation during normal white matter development and in response to hypoxia.

Early postnatal interruption of the bidirectional GABA/TNFSF12 signaling between parvalbumin-positive interneurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells impairs correct prefrontal cortical network activity and social cognitive behavior later in life.

In developing embryos, axons grow through complex and dynamic terrains. Here, the authors show that spiral ganglion neurons in the developing mouse cochlea extend leading axons that interact with a scaffold of glial precursors, with follower axons fasciculating on top.